A Pleasant Encounter
by IGdude117
Summary: Fresh from a disastrous concert, the former Prince Wu unwinds in a hotel bar. While there, he will meet interesting new people and ponder his past. Written for Round 4 of the Probending Writing Competition.
**Word Count: 2076**

 **Prompts used:**

 **(object) playing cards**

 **(character) Wu**

 **(quote) "Pride and excess bring disaster for man"- Xun Zi**

 **Task:**

Diamonds \- represent riches and royalty. Write about someone rich/a royal living without their riches/title.

* * *

The lounge was very… _red_. Of course, Wu reflected, sipping on a cherry-berry lemonade, most things in the Fire Nation were.

A haze of smoke mostly from a night of patrons smoking their greenleaf seemed to hang over the room. A lot of the people he had grown up with had smoked greenleaf cigarettes, but he had never really taken to it, despite it being the standard of sorts for Ba Sing Se nobility. It made him feel strange, and he preferred to have his full facilities so that he could better woo the ladyfolk.

A piano in the far corner of the room played a few dulcet tones, and the quiet hubbub of the last few people sitting by the various tables, their elegant suits and dresses pristinely kept in the high-life style of Republic City.

Slightly bored, Wu stared at the crystal of his glass, mesmerized as he swirled the multicolored liquid around.

The bartender stopped by, leaning forward.

"Can I get you anything else, Prince Wu?"

Wu smiled.

"It's just Wu now. I'll take a refill on this, though."

The bartender nodded, grabbing a bottle and pouring more of the ice-cold drink in Wu's cup, the liquid dribbling through his ice cubes in fascinating patterns. He nodded a quick thanks to the man before taking another sweet and sour sip of the drink.

A rustling to his left caught his attention, and he turned, seeing a beautiful, black-haired girl with a slender build looking at him in interest. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, and her reddish-brown eyes shimmered with curiosity. She wore a beautiful black dress with rows of sequins dangling from the bottom of her seemingly frayed dress, fitting the high society style of the Republic City movers and shakers.

His thoughts went almost immediately to the parties he had once attended...

* * *

The party had been long and relatively entertained, but the young Prince Wu wanted nothing more than to return home to his rooms, pets, and books. Tentatively, he tugged at his mother's sleeve. She looked at him impassively, excusing herself from the conversation with a tone of annoyance.

" _What?_ "

"Can we go home, mommy? I wanna go home."

She rolled her eyes, sighing impetuously.

"No, Wu. We have to wait for your great auntie to finish. You know that."

As if she could sense she was being talked about, Great-Aunt Hou-Ting cleared her throat loudly, shooting a stern look at Wu, who shriveled under her withering gaze.

"Is the little squirt giving you trouble, Huifen? Just give him a good slap and he'll shut right up," she said, smirking.

The nobles, gaudily dressed and predominantly overweight, laughed raucously, shooting looks of ridicule towards Wu, who sunk lower and lower in his seat, as if each guffaw was a painful attack. He glanced at his mother, and upon seeing her laughing along, wanted nothing more than to disappear.

"It's hard to believe he's even _related_ to me and you," the Queen said, smacking her niece on the shoulder mockingly. "He's more like my father than anything else."

* * *

Wu smiled politely, bowing his head.

"Good evening, miss."

"I know you."

Wu regarded her again, not recognizing her.

"I think you might be mist-"

"You're that Prince who sings now, aren't you?! You performed at the old fountain this evening, right?"

Wu winced slightly, remembering the poor performance of the evening. It had started out alright, and the crowd had been enthusiastic, but the Elephant-Mandrills had made a big fuss, mid-performance, and ruined the whole thing.

"Yeah, that's me. Did you watch?"

She shook her head, grinning jovially.

"No, but I listened to it on the radio. The presenter wasn't very flattering towards you."

Wu let out a huff of annoyance.

"It doesn't seem like many people are these days."

"I did enjoy it, though."

Wu nodded graciously, gesturing towards the bartender.

"I appreciate that. Can I get you anything to drink?"

The girl regarded the bartender, frowning as she thought of what to order. At length, she lit up, grinning.

"Can I get a glass of Banana Juice?"

The bartender nodded, and the girl turned her gaze back to Wu, who was brushing some dirt off of his lapel.

"So, why did you step down?"

Wu started slightly in surprise. The question had seemingly come out of nowhere, and it had taken him off guard somewhat. Although it had been nearly six years since the Battle of Republic City, Wu had still constantly questioned his decision. In his heart, he knew that turning the Earth Kingdom into a democratic confederation was the better choice, but parts of himself felt guilty because of the part of himself that had simply wanted to avoid responsibility.

Wu smiled, swiveling in his chair to face the girl with a smirk on his face.

"You tend to jump around topics, don't you? I don't think I even know your name!"

She smiled again, grabbing the barman's sleeve as he walked by.

"Could you bring us a deck of cards, please?"

"What for?" Wu asked, in consternation.

"To play, silly. Or do you not play cards in Republic City?"

Wu laughed.

"You're on... " he said pointedly, fishing for her name.

"Call me Taya."

Wu nodded, sipping at his lemonade again.

"Then call me Wu, Taya."

* * *

The day had been long and, even more deplorably, _boring_. Tutors, instructors, and textbooks had been his life for the day, and he was looking forward to dragging his posse out into the Upper Ring to do some shopping. After all, he hadn't bought a new suit in over a day, which was tantamount to a world record for him.

He tossed his books on the bed, changing rapidly and leaving his things in a heap on the floor for the servants to pick up.

There was a soft knock at the door as Wu finished buttoning his vest.

"Come in."

Zixin, his butler, bowed deeply, his lined face looking more haggard than usual.

"You aren't sick, are you, Zixin? We have a full day of shopping ahead of us and I fully expect to…"

"Sir, I…" he said, softly.

"What is it? Do you need a spa treatment? You look like you might need-"

"Your mother is dead, sir."

The words hung in the air like a morning dew, bringing everything to a screeching halt.

"...what?"

"She passed this morning, sir. A Satomobile accident. The doctors did everything they could."

Numb and disbelieving, Wu sat on his overly comfortable bed, staring at the carpet and willing the tears to come. There was no way that- it was preposterous to even- how could…

"She instructed me to give you this, my lord."

Wu looked up blankly, to see a small box that the chamberlain held as if it were a crown. Gently, he took the wood-paneled box and opened it.

It was a playing card. A Lord card, from the popular card game, with the image of the famous philosopher Lai Weiyuan, with the inscription from his famous book below it. Wu stared at the weathered features of the philosopher in a sort of dazed fascination.

She had given him a playing card on her deathbed. A playing card.

His thoughts ceased. He barely registered the door closing softly as Zixin left him alone.

His father had died when he was very young. He had never really known the man, though by all accounts he had been a successful businessman before Wu was born. That had left his mother to raise him, which she had done… to an extent.

If anything, Zixin was more of a parent, having watched over him from a young age while his mother attended parties or traveled the world. Every need that Wu had desired had been provided at a moment's notice- a happy life, by Wu's standards.

Yet his mother's death didn't, as he expected it to, cause him to sob or cry. He felt… dry. Empty. A sort of nothingness dominated everything. He held the firm card in his hand, slipping it into his inside pocket automatically, staring at the carpet again in disbelief.

A playing card. Of all things.

* * *

The lounge had cleared out, by that point, and the rain outside had fizzled out, resolving into a gentle but persistent drizzle. The bartender had left several hours ago, tiredly telling them to 'just clean up after you're done' before leaving.

They had played several rounds in silence. He had won the first one (having played the game a lot with his old friends), but she had come back in the later ones and had been defeating him soundly.

The small talk had been… interesting. Her thoughts flitted from one topic to the next with all the whimsy of a Hummingsparrow, ranging from her upbringing in Fire Fountain City and his life in Ba Sing Se.

"I'll bet twenty yuans," she said, dropping the bills onto the table.

"Getting cocky, eh?"

Wu drew the next card, hoping for a good hand, and then paused, his breath slowly exhaling from his lungs in surprise.

It was _the_ card.

Lai Weiyuan's bemused face stared out, the thin letters of the card barely visible in the worn, bar set. He knew them by heart, of course, having spent many hours staring at the card, searching for answers, but he had never gotten any.

"Good card?"

Of course, it was. The Lord would give him an extremely good hand, but he numbly folded, standing up.

"I'm sorry- It's late, and I have a flight to catch tomorrow. Please excuse me."

She shrugged.

As he walked towards the exit, her voice rang out again, her words freezing him in his tracks.

" _Pride and excess bring disaster for a man._ What does that mean?"

"It means I would have taken the pot, if I hadn't been too tired. Good night, Taya."

"You never answered my question."

He sighed.

"I don't really like to talk about it, to be honest. The way I was back then, foolish and impulsive, ignorant and blind to the way the world worked… I don't like to remember it. I get called a tyrant or a Kuvira every time someone hears I was going to be the Earth King, but I _wish_ I had been as sure of myself as Kuvira was, for all of her faults. I _wish_ I was like Avatar Korra, or Miss Sato, or even Mako or Bolin. Then maybe that whole war could have been avoided."

She stood, and, almost randomly, planted a kiss on his cheek- a gentle, tentative kiss.

"I haven't been truthful with you," she said, earnestly.

"How so?"

"I've been a fan of yours for a long time. Spirits know- and I mean this in the nicest way- it wasn't for your singing. My family and I lived in Republic City when Kuvira invaded. My parents weren't going to leave the house until you came on the radio and gave that speech. And then later, in the station, when you helped the refugees out of the city? _That_ was heroism, Prince Wu. The battle against Kuvira's army- those were heroics. But someone like you; someone who rose from uncertainty to help other people? That's a hero in my book."

Wu was silent for a bit.

"So… how was that not truthful? I appreciate it, don't get me wrong, but I'm a little confused."

"I wanted to see the real Wu. If most people's stereotypes of you were right, you would have cut me off and bragged about things or been a shallow flirtatious partier. But I can tell you've changed."

She slipped something into his pocket, smiling sweetly.

"Give me a call sometime."

* * *

As the runway lifted away and the raspy roar of the engines filled the cabin, the attendant leaned over next to Wu.

"You're the only passenger, so just let us know if you need anything at all, Prince Wu!"

Smiling, Wu glanced at the playing card, with a phone number and a scrawled message written on the top. With those few words, his memories of his upbringing, the coldness, the detachment lessened somewhat. The words reminded him that there were people who cared about him, and that if he was just… _himself_ , then life could be alright in the end.

"It's just Wu," he said, smiling broadly. "And I'll be alright."

* * *

 **Hey all!**

 **This is another prompt I wrote for the Probending fanfiction writing competition, so forgive the lack of content on my more regular stories, as I'm on a temporary hiatus both for college finals and the aforementioned contest. I'll be updating whatever stories I can when I get a chance.**

 **As a bit of context for this, I tried to pay homage to one of my favorite films, _Lost in Translation_. Obviously, Taya and Wu aren't perfect analogues to Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, but I wanted to give a nod of sorts to elements from that film. **

**I hope you enjoy!**

- **IGdude117**


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